Improvement in middlings-purifiers



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Middlings Puriers.

Patented March 25,1373.

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Middiings Pur-mers;

Patented Ma'rch25,1873.

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

IMPROVEMENT |N Albumes-Primarias..

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 137,207, dated March25, 1873.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that we, ANDREW HUNTER and CHARLES EDWARD WHITMORE, ofQuincy, in the county of Adams and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain Improvements in Middlings and Flour Purifiers, of which thefollowing is a specification, with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, in which- Figures 1 and 2 are side elevations. Fig. 3 is afront elevation. Fig. 4 is a top view of the machine. Fig. 5 is aperspective View of feedtrough. Fig. 6 is a perspective View of thecam-shaft and one of its cams and springs for regulating the throw ofthe screen or bolt and the force of the blow, and Fig. 7 is alongitudinal vertical section through the machine, showing the interiorarrangement with the screensupporting links, the direction of thecurrents of air, &c. 4

The first part of `our invention consists in making the screen or boltof wire-cloth and bolting.- cloth combined, the one arranged above theother, the Wire serving to properly support the bolting-cloth andcommunicate to it the vibratory movement of the boltingframe throughoutits entire surface or extent. The second part of our invention consistsin a novel arrangement of the devices for supporting and vibrating thescreen or bolt,

whereby a short, sharp, vibratory, and risingand-falling movement isimparted to the screen, as hereinafter set forth. The third part of ourinvention consists in the combination, with the reciprocating bolt orscreen, of a feed-trough adapted to spread the flour and middlingsevenly over and across the re- .ceiving end of the bolt or screen. Thefourth part of our invention consists in the employment, in combinationwith the bolt or screen, of counter blasts or currents of air, which,may be regulated to meet at any desired point in advance of their jointaction on the bolt or screen, in such manner as to increase the effectof the current of air passing through the bolt, as hereinafterexplained.

A is the frame of the machine, which should be constructed in asubstantial manner. t is the main drivin g-shaft, arranged withdrivingpulley c that communicates motion to the operating parts asfollows: From main shaft ct, by pulleys and belt f, to shaft t; frommain shaft a, by pulleys and belt d, to shaft l; from fan-sha-ft i, bypulleys and belt c, to .shaft t; from fan-shaft c', by pulleys and beltg, to shaft r. On the end of the shaft r is a faceplate and wrist-pinfor operating through a connecting-rod the feed-trough K. B is a bolt orscreen of any required length or width, suspended in a horizontal ornearly horizontal position by inclined parallel straps or hangers, C,four or more on each side. The straps or hangers C are pivoted to thesides of main frame, and also to bolt or screen B, and by theirarrangement, as described, not only serve to give a rising-and-fallingmovement to the screen, their vibrations being upon one side only of avertical line, but also, by the use of four or more on each side, tosupport the bolt or screen throughout its entire length, therebyenabling us to materially diminish the weight of the bolt withoutendangering its sagging, and consequently reducing the amount of powerrequired for giving the vibratory and percussion movement describedamovement which it has been found impracticable to impart to the heavierbolts in ordinary use. E are levers arranged with friction-rollers F forthe cam-wheels to revolve or strike against. The levers E are pivoted instraps E attached to frame A. These levers communicate motion to thebolt or screen B from cams D. The end of the lever is pivoted to bolt orscreen B, and assists in suspending the same. D are cam or ratchetwheels fastened on the main shaft a for imparting motion to the screen Bthrough levers E. `Springs O are used for keeping the levers E incontact with cams D, and for regulating the force of the blow thatproduces the percussion movement. B are setscrews used for the purposeof regulating the throw of nscreen B. The levers E are provided with aprojection, which strikes against the head of the set-screws R, when therollers F fastened to levers E are released from the action of cams D.The hangers C are pivoted to frame A, and also to bolt or screen B, forsuspending the screen, and are placed in an inclined position, as shown,in such manner that a rising-and-falling movement is given to the boltin its vibrations. I and J are fans for producing blasts or currents ofair meeting underneath the screen and passing up through the same. K isa feed-trough constructed with a longitudinal slit or aperture on itsside. Said trough is placed over or near the end of bolt or screen B,and receives a lateral motion from the crank-wrist or plate P andconnecting-rod S. The conveyer N is placed lengthwise in the center andnear the bottom of the machine, and the sides above for a short spaceare hoppered for passing the middlings into the conveyer N. Apartition-board, T, may be placed across and under bolt or screen B forregulating the force of the blasts or currents of air passing up throughthe screen, and allowing a heavier blast, if required, to pass throughone'end of the screen than the other. This partition may be set at anydesired point in the length of the chamber for the purpose named, or itmay be entirely removed and the force of either or both of the currentsof air regulated for the same purpose, as hereinafter described.

The operation of our improved machine may be described as follows: Themachine being set in motion, the middlings to be purified are fed intotrough K, thence to the bolt or screen B, which is placed in ahorizontal position, or nearly so. That portion of the end of screen Bwhich is outside of the machine is covered with fine cloth or othersuitable material, for the purpose of permitting the light brownparticles to rise on top, and the pure middlings to settle on the bottomduring their passage over said portion of the bolt or screen. Themiddlings, as they enter the machine, sift through rapidly, while thebran and brown speclrs are prevented from passing through the screen bythe action of the blasts from the fan passing up through the cloth. Thebran moves 0E over the end of the screen. The dust and light particlesare carried up by the wind and deposited in dust-chamber L. The fans Iand J, being set in mot-ion, send a blast of air up through the coveringof the bolt or screen B, the wind passing in the direction of thearrows. The pure middlings fall into box x, and are conveyed to openingw by conveyer N. The partition T serves to regulate the force of theblast up through the bolt or screen in front of the fans. The fans I andJ are arranged with graduating slide boards for regulating the force ofthe blast, either or both; and, by the adjustment of the relative forcesof the two blasts coming from opposite directions, the point where theyshall meet and be turned upward through thr cloth or screen may thus beregulated at w1 This action of the counter-currents is found to beparticularly important and valuable in its effects, for the reason thatthe eddyin g currents of air produced by the meeting blasts is such asto produce the desired agitation of the materials or middlings on thebolt and effect their separation, and the removal of the lighterparticles and specks with a much li ght er current of air than wouldotherwise be required; and, consequently, there is less of the valuableportion of the middlings carried ofi' with it and wasted.

The bolt or screen B is covered with wire and bolting cloth, one arranged over the other, the wire supporting and communicating the vibrationsof the bolt to the boltingcloth throughout its entire surface or extent.

' For grading middlings different numbers of bolting-cloths are used.

By the use of cam-wheels D and levers E a lateral'motion is given tobolt or screen B, the degree of vibration being regulated by set-screwslt. The degree of percussion is regulated by springs O. The cam-wheelsrevolve or strike against friction-rollers F at tached to levers E,communicating, in combination with the other devices, a peculiarvibratory and lifting motion to bolt or screen B sufficient to move themiddlings rapidly on a level surface, or even up an inclination of tendegrees, by the percussion movement given by the cams D, and imparted bylevers E to the bolt or screen B, in combination with the pivotedhangers C placed in an inclined or angular position. The feed-trough Kis suspended by hangers W, and receives a lateral motion from shaft r.The motion given to the feed-trough is sufiicient to level the middlings therein 5 and, as they accumulate in the trough, they pass out evenlythrough the opening in the side or over thelower side of the trough ontobolt or screen B, and are spread evenly over the end of the same. Thedust chamber L is ar ranged with partitions near each end of the frame,extendingupfrom the bottom of box L, leaving sufficient spacefor thewind to pass between the partition and top covering ofthe ma chine. Theobject of havingpartitions arranged thusis to form a vacuum for thelightparticles of bran and dust to fall into. The wind from the fanspasses out of the machine at an opening, Z. Friction-rollers F are usedfor preventing the cams from cutting levers E, and the friction-rollersY for preventing bolt or screen B from rubbing against frame A.

Having now described our improvements in middlingspuriiiers, we wish tostate that we do not claim the cams, levers, and springs for actuating abolt or screen, broadly, and irre spective of their adaptation to anduse in middlings-purifiers, for these are shown and dcscribed in LettersPatent granted to Andrew Hunter on the 29th day of October, 1872, forimprovements in grain-separators; but

What we do claim as new, and desire to sa cure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A bolt or screen, B, composed of wire and bolting cloth, arranged oneabove the oth er, 4substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the bolt or screen B of a middlingspurier, ofthe cams D, vibratingilevers E, and springs O, for imparting a vibratoryand percussion movement to said bolt or screen, as described.

3. The combination, with rthe bolt or screen discharged therefrom,substantially as described.

5. The combination of the feed-trough with the bolt or screen B forspreading the middlings evenly across the receiving` end of the boltorscreen, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the bolt or screen B, of the two fans forproducing counter currents of air, substantially as and for the purposesset forth. l

ANDREW HUNTER. CHARLES EDWARD WHITMOBE.

Witnesses: H. R. WHITMORE, A. G. WHEAT.

